January 2012 ''This is Biology; the science of the living world'' E. Mayr<br/>

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April 2011: ''Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England'' T. Wessels <br/>

+

October 2011 ''For Love of Insects'' T. Eisner <br/>

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March 2011: ''A Sand County Almanac; and sketches here and there'' A. Leopold<br/>

+

September 2011 ''Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs'' S. Hubbell<br/>

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February 2011: ''The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks'' R. Skloot<br/>

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May 2011 ''The Diversity of Life'' E. O. Wilson <br/>

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January 2011: ''The Botany of Desire'' M. Pollan<br/>

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April 2011 ''Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England'' T. Wessels <br/>

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December 2010: ''Why Evolution Is True'' J. Coyne <br/>

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March 2011 ''A Sand County Almanac; and sketches here and there'' A. Leopold<br/>

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February 2011 ''The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks'' R. Skloot<br/>

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January 2011 ''The Botany of Desire'' M. Pollan<br/>

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December 2010 ''Why Evolution Is True'' J. Coyne <br/>

'''Children's Literature'''<br/>

'''Children's Literature'''<br/>

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Pay your books forward. Consider donating books to groups such as Books Through Bars [www.booksthroughbars.org/]. I have accumulated several used biology textbooks and found a local group that will put them to use!

Pay your books forward. Consider donating books to groups such as Books Through Bars [www.booksthroughbars.org/]. I have accumulated several used biology textbooks and found a local group that will put them to use!

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose." (Zora Neale Hurston) and I would like to add "... that requires perseverance."

Mt. Marshall campsite

Aedes aegypti, under construction

Aedes aegypti is a vector of Dengue virus and Yellow Fever.

Post-doctoral Research, under construction

Currently, I am a postdoctoral research associate in the Severson Lab at Notre Dame.

Pseudoscorpions

Pseudoscorpions, also known as Chelonethida or False Scorpions, are an understudied order of arachnids. While not well known, Aristotle made note of pseudoscorpions as did the luminaries Linnaeus and Hooke (Micrographia 1665), and today they star on YouTube. Pseudoscorpions are found throughout the world in a wide range of microhabitats including leaf litter, animal nests, under rocks (even in the intertidal zone), beneath bark, and among the pages of books. One reason many are unfamiliar with pseudoscorpions is their size, most measuring less than 5 mm. This ancient lineage, the fossil record dates to the Middle Devonian (380MYA), currently comprises 25 families, 439 genera, and 3385 species.

Dissertation Research

Mt. Caroline in southwestern Australia

Synsphyronus (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Garypidae) is a genus of pseudoscorpions found throughout Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia (Harvey 1987). Currently, there are 24 described species but the diversity is much greater (unpublished data). This group has been collected beneath bark, in leaf litter, and under rocks in mesic and xeric regions. Specifically, I am interested in the origin and diversification of lineages that are endemic to the granite outcrops in southwestern Australia. Only one species, Synsphyronus elegans, has been described from the outcrops, and until recently it was known only from its type locality.
My research objectives include:
• to assess the diversity of Synsphyronus on the granite outcrops of southwestern Australia
• to describe species discovered on the outcrops
• to infer phylogenetic relationships among the rock-restricted lineages in southwestern Australia
• to estimate a species level phylogeny

I have been fortunate to have had three field seasons since starting my dissertation. During my 2004 and 2006 field seasons, I visited over 100 outcrops in southwestern Australia, sampling from the ~70 populations discovered. My sampling suggests that the diversity of Synsphyronus in southwestern Australia is greater than previously recorded. I traveled across Australia to localities recorded for twelve of the 22 Australian species of Synsphyronus during the Australian winter of 2008.

Ultrastructures of the Chelicera

chelicera

Ultrastructures of the chelicera, including the serrula exterior, serrula interior, and flagellum blades, are taxonomically informative characters; I imaged these structures using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The serrula exterior and interior teeth are heteromorphous. I have discovered papilla-like structures on the tips of the serrula exterior teeth. The serrula exterior is thought to be a grooming organ and the function of these ultrastructures warrants further exploration. Garypids typically have three spinose flagellum blades; the distal-most blade being the longest. The Synsphyronus samples I imaged had three blades (the flagellum shown is abnormal with only two blades). Many of the blades had structures that were more peg-like than spinose.

Pseudoscorpion Molecular Toolkit

Nuclear Genes
I have successfully isolated four nuclear genes (elongation factor 1- subunit α, wingless, actin 5C, and Internal Transcribed Spacer regions 1 and 2) from pseudoscorpions. I have designed new primers and modified published primers.

Pseudoscorpion Projects

Microbisium sp.

Chthonius sp.

I have started to collect, image, and database the local fauna with the help of Evelize Codero (‘09), Elizabeth Riggles ('12) and Ashley Bonet ('12). Evelize imaged specimens collected by Dr. Raymond Pupedis, Senior Collections Manager, Division of Entomology, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Chthonius and Microbisium are two genera found in Connecticut.

The image of Chthonius was featured on UConn's 'Year of Science 2009' home page in the "What is it?" column .

Publications

Engel, R.S. Novel discovery of lamellar papillae on the grooming organ in Synsphyronus (Garypidae: Pseudoscorpiones). Accepted, Arthropod Structure and Development

Science for All

Recommended Reading

December 2012
November 2012 Darwin's Gift to science and religion Francisco J. Ayala
October 2012 Parasite Rex Carl Zimmer
February 2012 The Fever, how malaria has ruled humankind for 500,000 years Sonia Shah
January 2012 This is Biology; the science of the living world E. Mayr
October 2011 For Love of Insects T. Eisner
September 2011 Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs S. Hubbell
May 2011 The Diversity of Life E. O. Wilson
April 2011 Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England T. Wessels
March 2011 A Sand County Almanac; and sketches here and there A. Leopold
February 2011 The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks R. Skloot
January 2011 The Botany of Desire M. Pollan
December 2010 Why Evolution Is True J. Coyne

Children's Literature
As an evolutionary biologist and a former elementary school teacher, I am interested in the literature that is available to school age children. Titles in my collection include,
Jackson, Ellen The Tree of Life, The Wonders of Evolution
Lasky, Kathryn One Beetle Too Many, The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
Markle, Sandra Animals Charles Darwin Saw, An Around-the-World Adventure
Manning & Granstrom What Mr. Darwin Saw
Peters, Lisa W. Our Family Tree, An Evolution Story
Schanzer, Rosalyn What Darwin Saw, The Journey that Changed the World
Sis, Peter The Tree of Life

Donate Science Books

Pay your books forward. Consider donating books to groups such as Books Through Bars [www.booksthroughbars.org/]. I have accumulated several used biology textbooks and found a local group that will put them to use!